LEAVES Website for March-April 2021 Issue
Excerpted from “Leaflets” column:
Issuing an Apostolic Letter entitled Patris Corde (With a Father’s Heart), Pope Francis proclaimed that from Dec. 8, 2020 to Dec. 8, 2021, the Church will be celebrating a Holy Year of St. Joseph.
In the Church the month of March traditionally honors St. Joseph. The Solemnity of St. Joseph falls on March 19 and St. Joseph the Worker is celebrated on May 1. Additionally, the Church especially pays tribute to St. Joseph on Wednesdays each week. Attending Mass on these days and during March would particularly honor St. Joseph. During these times we would do well to recall, offer thanksgiving and ask for the intercession of St. Joseph for fathers – biological fathers and spiritual fathers.
During this Holy Year we may want to add a prayer to St. Joseph to our daily routine. Perhaps we might recite the one that appears at the end of the Apostolic Letter that appears elsewhere in this issue. We can consider beginning and ending our day with one of the many prayers to St. Joseph or add one after praying a Rosary or attending Mass.
Many churches have statues of St. Joseph with the notation to “Go to Joseph” for assistance in becoming holy. Adding “St. Joseph, pray for us!” at the end of grace before meals or at the top of the hour while awake can bring us closer to Jesus, Mary and Joseph. This might be a good time to reinstitute the habit of writing JMJ at the top of papers or letters. Perhaps we might choose one special intention to present to St. Joseph and remember it each day, asking for his intercession.
If there are any parishes or shrines in your area having St. Joseph as patron, plan a pilgrimage to visit them and pray before St. Joseph’s statue or picture, perhaps even plan to attend Mass while you are there. If your diocese has special events or devotions scheduled for the Holy Year, consider participating in them.
Take some time investigating the history, traditions, virtues, devotions and prayers associated with St. Joseph. The Church has a long and rich heritage relating to St. Joseph. There is much we can learn from this simple carpenter, God chose to help raise His only Son Jesus. Each month of the Holy Year has a theme relating to St. Joseph. In March the focus is: Joseph Most Just; April is: Joseph, Lover of Poverty and May is: Joseph, Model of Workers. Use these topics as a stepping off point to learn more about, and then put into action, those particular attributes of St. Joseph.
Be sure to avail yourself of the special opportunity the Holy Year of St. Joseph presents to become ever closer with him and with the Lord. St. Joseph, pray for us!
Lent should be a fruitful season of faith for us, a time of increased spiritual practices. We are called to prayer, fasting and almsgiving. In addition to giving up, such as fasting, we should also act in ways that honor the Lord. We should perform works of charity.
Let us show patience when under pressure. Let us show kindness when others are unpleasant. Let us extend an olive branch to someone who has been hurtful to us. Let us respond with reason to those who are unreasonable.
Small loving gestures help graces grow in a sometimes hostile world. Be that grace. Be that light for others. Our actions need not be grand. Sometimes simple efforts are all that are required for charity in action.
For the remainder of the Lenten Season let us balance action with reflection. This will surely make this a time of spiritual enrichment for us. The more deeply we immerse ourselves in the celebration of Lent, the more profoundly we experience the joy of Easter.
Easter Sunday is Apr. 4, yet Easter is so important that it cannot be contained in just one day. The Easter Season lasts 50 days from Easter Sunday until Pentecost. We should seize the opportunity during this season to grow in fervor and knowledge of our Faith.
From all of us at LEAVES, we wish all our dear LEAVES family a most joyous Easter! You remain in our hearts and prayers! May God grant you abundant blessings at Easter and always – Fr. Thomas Heier, C.M.M.
Excerpted from “Our Family Album”:
Rosary Leads a
Path to the Church
I had a real close friend and we worked together as nurses in Miami, Florida. We found out that we both loved Star Trek. In going to movies and such, I found out that she was a strong Southern Baptist. One day, out of the blue, she asked, “What are you saying when you Catholics are holding a string of beads?” Well, there was my opening. What do you say!
I told my friend to hold on to that thought and went to a Catholic book store, looking at just about everything sold there. I came across a little booklet that included, “How to say the Rosary for Non-Catholics.” Let me tell you, I have never been able to find this booklet since.
I bought the booklet and a rosary and gave it to my friend. I tried answering her questions and about this time, she had sold her house and moved to Knoxville, TN and bought a house about six blocks from a Catholic church. She called the church to get some answers to some questions.
To make a long story short, she started classes only after being told she didn’t have to become a Catholic. She says now that when she was received into the Catholic Church and Faith it was her happiest day after the birth of her daughter. And she still tells everyone it is all my fault.
Who would think that this was the result of a small question regarding a little rosary. What power it has even today – M.Z.
A Crowd in the
Examination Room
Yesterday I had an Echo test for a heart murmur. I was very nervous and worried. I am 78 years old and two years ago I was told that I had the best heartbeat for someone my age.
Needless to say, I stormed heaven and then later that day my doctor called to tell me that my heart valves were good! You have no idea how happy and, for sure, so relieved I was! That morning as I lay there watching and listening to my heart beat, I was reminded of what my grade school Sister said to us, that the “greatest invention ever is the human body!” Amen to that!
Since I asked so many to be with me during that exam, I know the room was really crowded. So my very special thanks to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Blessed Mother, Ss. Joseph, Ann, Elizabeth, Jude, and Anthony of Padua, and deceased family members and my special angel – Elizabeth K.
Excerpted from Blessed Engelmar Testimonies:
A Life of
Blessed Engelmar
There is now available a booklet of the life of Blessed Engelmar Unzeitig, C.M.M. You may receive a free copy of it by sending a stamped (postage for one ounce), self-addressed envelope to us at: LEAVES, P.O. Box 87, Dearborn, MI 48121-0087.
Please use this check to help with publishing LEAVES. It is in thanksgiving for special help received from Bl. Engelmar – John D.
+ + +
My donation is in thanksgiving for favors received through Bl. Engelmar Unzeitig – Mrs. R.S.
+ + +
This donation is in thanks to Fr. Engelmar and all the others who heard my prayers for a safe trip home for my family! They were overdue home and the weather was bad across several states when they were coming back from a family emergency. I had been praying and I then asked Fr. Engelmar specifically for help. Right after that request my family members arrived home, even though the weather and road conditions had been horrible. Also, thanks again to St. Anthony who always finds my lost items as soon as I ask – M.H.
Novena in Honor of
Abbot Francis Pfanner
Abbot Francis Pfanner founded Mariannhill Monastery, and 111 years ago its monks became the Congregation of Missionaries of Mariannhill. He was not only a great missionary, but also a holy man. The cause for his beatification has begun. We have available a novena in his honor and will send you a free copy of it when you send a stamped (postage for one ounce), self-addressed envelope to us at: LEAVES, P.O. Box 87, Dearborn, MI 48121-0087.
The Three O’Clock Prayer
By Joseph Albino
In October 1937 our Lord gave to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska the following prayer that appears in paragraph 1320 of her Diary:
“At three o’clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great mercy for the whole world. I will allow you to enter into My mortal sorrow. In this hour I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion.”
Three O’Clock Prayer
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.
O Blood and Water that gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a Fount of Mercy for us, I trust in you.
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world (three times).
Editorial Note: A Three O’Clock Prayer card can be obtained from: Sisters of Reparation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, P.O. Box 9, Steubenville, Ohio 43952; jesusItrustinyou.org; 740-282-2149.
Prayer to St. Joseph from Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter With a Father’s Heart:
Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
To you God entrusted his only Son;
in you Mary placed her trust;
with you Christ became man.
Blessed Joseph, to us too
show yourself a father
and guide us in the path of life.
Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage, and defend us from every evil. Amen.
Consecration to St. Joseph
O Blessed St. Joseph!
I consecrate myself to thy honor, and give myself to thee, that thou may be always my father, my protector and my guide to the way of salvation.
Obtain for me a great purity of heart and a fervent love of the interior life.
After thy example, may I perform all my actions for the greater glory of God, in union with the Divine Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary!
And do thou, O Blessed Joseph, pray for me, that I may experience the peace and joy of thy holy death. Amen.
Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation!
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you: save souls!
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, assist me in my last agony.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, may I breathe forth my soul in peace with you. Amen.
The Longest Journey
By Margaret Peterson
The longest journey may be to our knees
To ask Christ into our heart
And give Him control of all of our life
So sanctity can start.
It’s then we begin our trip to heaven:
Each day an uphill climb
To the rarified air of holiness
That makes full use of our time.
Then every second becomes a chance
To give back in return
To Him who gave His life for us,
Who for each heart does yearn.
“O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee. Take me as I am. Make me what You would have me be. Sweet Heart of Jesus, be my love.” I have been praying this prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for more than 50 years. It keeps me on track. Maybe it would help someone else. Many blessings – Margaret M.
No Need to Knock
By Peter Caligiuri
No need to knock on Jesus’ door,
It’s open all the time.
Though He will surely knock on ours,
As He is passing by
And looks in through our windowpane
To see the empty spot
That at our kitchen table sits
With a meal fresh cooked and hot,
And asks if He may enter in
To forgive our sins and more,
And bless our family circle once
That He’s come in our door.
My Special Friend
By Bernice Laux
A special friend just called today
to say He is on his way
to spend some time with me.
I think I’m ready, let me see!
Everything is in its place.
Now I’ll see Him face to face.
I’m not perfect, oh, but then
all my failings He does mend.
He knows me very well
and helped me when I fell.
Yes, I hear Him at the door,
my special friend whom I adore.
Precious Jesus, do come in!
My life with You does now begin.
I’ll leave it all behind today
and forever with You stay.
Excerpted from “Leaflets” column:
Issuing an Apostolic Letter entitled Patris Corde (With a Father’s Heart), Pope Francis proclaimed that from Dec. 8, 2020 to Dec. 8, 2021, the Church will be celebrating a Holy Year of St. Joseph.
In the Church the month of March traditionally honors St. Joseph. The Solemnity of St. Joseph falls on March 19 and St. Joseph the Worker is celebrated on May 1. Additionally, the Church especially pays tribute to St. Joseph on Wednesdays each week. Attending Mass on these days and during March would particularly honor St. Joseph. During these times we would do well to recall, offer thanksgiving and ask for the intercession of St. Joseph for fathers – biological fathers and spiritual fathers.
During this Holy Year we may want to add a prayer to St. Joseph to our daily routine. Perhaps we might recite the one that appears at the end of the Apostolic Letter that appears elsewhere in this issue. We can consider beginning and ending our day with one of the many prayers to St. Joseph or add one after praying a Rosary or attending Mass.
Many churches have statues of St. Joseph with the notation to “Go to Joseph” for assistance in becoming holy. Adding “St. Joseph, pray for us!” at the end of grace before meals or at the top of the hour while awake can bring us closer to Jesus, Mary and Joseph. This might be a good time to reinstitute the habit of writing JMJ at the top of papers or letters. Perhaps we might choose one special intention to present to St. Joseph and remember it each day, asking for his intercession.
If there are any parishes or shrines in your area having St. Joseph as patron, plan a pilgrimage to visit them and pray before St. Joseph’s statue or picture, perhaps even plan to attend Mass while you are there. If your diocese has special events or devotions scheduled for the Holy Year, consider participating in them.
Take some time investigating the history, traditions, virtues, devotions and prayers associated with St. Joseph. The Church has a long and rich heritage relating to St. Joseph. There is much we can learn from this simple carpenter, God chose to help raise His only Son Jesus. Each month of the Holy Year has a theme relating to St. Joseph. In March the focus is: Joseph Most Just; April is: Joseph, Lover of Poverty and May is: Joseph, Model of Workers. Use these topics as a stepping off point to learn more about, and then put into action, those particular attributes of St. Joseph.
Be sure to avail yourself of the special opportunity the Holy Year of St. Joseph presents to become ever closer with him and with the Lord. St. Joseph, pray for us!
Lent should be a fruitful season of faith for us, a time of increased spiritual practices. We are called to prayer, fasting and almsgiving. In addition to giving up, such as fasting, we should also act in ways that honor the Lord. We should perform works of charity.
Let us show patience when under pressure. Let us show kindness when others are unpleasant. Let us extend an olive branch to someone who has been hurtful to us. Let us respond with reason to those who are unreasonable.
Small loving gestures help graces grow in a sometimes hostile world. Be that grace. Be that light for others. Our actions need not be grand. Sometimes simple efforts are all that are required for charity in action.
For the remainder of the Lenten Season let us balance action with reflection. This will surely make this a time of spiritual enrichment for us. The more deeply we immerse ourselves in the celebration of Lent, the more profoundly we experience the joy of Easter.
Easter Sunday is Apr. 4, yet Easter is so important that it cannot be contained in just one day. The Easter Season lasts 50 days from Easter Sunday until Pentecost. We should seize the opportunity during this season to grow in fervor and knowledge of our Faith.
From all of us at LEAVES, we wish all our dear LEAVES family a most joyous Easter! You remain in our hearts and prayers! May God grant you abundant blessings at Easter and always – Fr. Thomas Heier, C.M.M.
Excerpted from “Our Family Album”:
Rosary Leads a
Path to the Church
I had a real close friend and we worked together as nurses in Miami, Florida. We found out that we both loved Star Trek. In going to movies and such, I found out that she was a strong Southern Baptist. One day, out of the blue, she asked, “What are you saying when you Catholics are holding a string of beads?” Well, there was my opening. What do you say!
I told my friend to hold on to that thought and went to a Catholic book store, looking at just about everything sold there. I came across a little booklet that included, “How to say the Rosary for Non-Catholics.” Let me tell you, I have never been able to find this booklet since.
I bought the booklet and a rosary and gave it to my friend. I tried answering her questions and about this time, she had sold her house and moved to Knoxville, TN and bought a house about six blocks from a Catholic church. She called the church to get some answers to some questions.
To make a long story short, she started classes only after being told she didn’t have to become a Catholic. She says now that when she was received into the Catholic Church and Faith it was her happiest day after the birth of her daughter. And she still tells everyone it is all my fault.
Who would think that this was the result of a small question regarding a little rosary. What power it has even today – M.Z.
A Crowd in the
Examination Room
Yesterday I had an Echo test for a heart murmur. I was very nervous and worried. I am 78 years old and two years ago I was told that I had the best heartbeat for someone my age.
Needless to say, I stormed heaven and then later that day my doctor called to tell me that my heart valves were good! You have no idea how happy and, for sure, so relieved I was! That morning as I lay there watching and listening to my heart beat, I was reminded of what my grade school Sister said to us, that the “greatest invention ever is the human body!” Amen to that!
Since I asked so many to be with me during that exam, I know the room was really crowded. So my very special thanks to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Blessed Mother, Ss. Joseph, Ann, Elizabeth, Jude, and Anthony of Padua, and deceased family members and my special angel – Elizabeth K.
Excerpted from Blessed Engelmar Testimonies:
A Life of
Blessed Engelmar
There is now available a booklet of the life of Blessed Engelmar Unzeitig, C.M.M. You may receive a free copy of it by sending a stamped (postage for one ounce), self-addressed envelope to us at: LEAVES, P.O. Box 87, Dearborn, MI 48121-0087.
Please use this check to help with publishing LEAVES. It is in thanksgiving for special help received from Bl. Engelmar – John D.
+ + +
My donation is in thanksgiving for favors received through Bl. Engelmar Unzeitig – Mrs. R.S.
+ + +
This donation is in thanks to Fr. Engelmar and all the others who heard my prayers for a safe trip home for my family! They were overdue home and the weather was bad across several states when they were coming back from a family emergency. I had been praying and I then asked Fr. Engelmar specifically for help. Right after that request my family members arrived home, even though the weather and road conditions had been horrible. Also, thanks again to St. Anthony who always finds my lost items as soon as I ask – M.H.
Novena in Honor of
Abbot Francis Pfanner
Abbot Francis Pfanner founded Mariannhill Monastery, and 111 years ago its monks became the Congregation of Missionaries of Mariannhill. He was not only a great missionary, but also a holy man. The cause for his beatification has begun. We have available a novena in his honor and will send you a free copy of it when you send a stamped (postage for one ounce), self-addressed envelope to us at: LEAVES, P.O. Box 87, Dearborn, MI 48121-0087.
The Three O’Clock Prayer
By Joseph Albino
In October 1937 our Lord gave to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska the following prayer that appears in paragraph 1320 of her Diary:
“At three o’clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great mercy for the whole world. I will allow you to enter into My mortal sorrow. In this hour I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion.”
Three O’Clock Prayer
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.
O Blood and Water that gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a Fount of Mercy for us, I trust in you.
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world (three times).
Editorial Note: A Three O’Clock Prayer card can be obtained from: Sisters of Reparation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, P.O. Box 9, Steubenville, Ohio 43952; jesusItrustinyou.org; 740-282-2149.
Prayer to St. Joseph from Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter With a Father’s Heart:
Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
To you God entrusted his only Son;
in you Mary placed her trust;
with you Christ became man.
Blessed Joseph, to us too
show yourself a father
and guide us in the path of life.
Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage, and defend us from every evil. Amen.
Consecration to St. Joseph
O Blessed St. Joseph!
I consecrate myself to thy honor, and give myself to thee, that thou may be always my father, my protector and my guide to the way of salvation.
Obtain for me a great purity of heart and a fervent love of the interior life.
After thy example, may I perform all my actions for the greater glory of God, in union with the Divine Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary!
And do thou, O Blessed Joseph, pray for me, that I may experience the peace and joy of thy holy death. Amen.
Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation!
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you: save souls!
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, assist me in my last agony.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, may I breathe forth my soul in peace with you. Amen.
The Longest Journey
By Margaret Peterson
The longest journey may be to our knees
To ask Christ into our heart
And give Him control of all of our life
So sanctity can start.
It’s then we begin our trip to heaven:
Each day an uphill climb
To the rarified air of holiness
That makes full use of our time.
Then every second becomes a chance
To give back in return
To Him who gave His life for us,
Who for each heart does yearn.
“O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee. Take me as I am. Make me what You would have me be. Sweet Heart of Jesus, be my love.” I have been praying this prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for more than 50 years. It keeps me on track. Maybe it would help someone else. Many blessings – Margaret M.
No Need to Knock
By Peter Caligiuri
No need to knock on Jesus’ door,
It’s open all the time.
Though He will surely knock on ours,
As He is passing by
And looks in through our windowpane
To see the empty spot
That at our kitchen table sits
With a meal fresh cooked and hot,
And asks if He may enter in
To forgive our sins and more,
And bless our family circle once
That He’s come in our door.
My Special Friend
By Bernice Laux
A special friend just called today
to say He is on his way
to spend some time with me.
I think I’m ready, let me see!
Everything is in its place.
Now I’ll see Him face to face.
I’m not perfect, oh, but then
all my failings He does mend.
He knows me very well
and helped me when I fell.
Yes, I hear Him at the door,
my special friend whom I adore.
Precious Jesus, do come in!
My life with You does now begin.
I’ll leave it all behind today
and forever with You stay.